Day 59 — Walking 15km in flip flops
Niklas, Katrin, Magda and I had planned a bit of an adventure for today. We attempted the route some time ago but Katrin wasn’t feeling very well and we were forced to turn back. Today, however, was different. This time we were up earlier and making full use of the morning hours where the sun was more forgiving to tourists trying to walk up mountains plus it wasn’t as hot as recent days. I’d made the route myself on Komoot and it was approximately 15km (9.3 miles) but with 700 meters in elevation up a mountainside in an area nearby Amed called Bunutan. Halfway through the route was a place marked on the map simply as “small village” so we were curious what was going on there and hoping that they would be welcoming to a bunch of foreigners during a pandemic.
We woke up at 8 am and made an extra-large porridge each to give us energy for the day’s hike. We’d prepared some food the day before, so packed into the bag two tuna and onion sandwiches, a bag full of watermelon chunks and two bottles of water. I put my trainers on and walked downstairs but wasn’t even out of the homestay when I decided - I couldn’t wear the shoes. Something sharp was sticking into my heel and it was really uncomfortable. I took them off and had no other option but to use the flip flops instead. I couldn’t even use flip flops before I came away, I’d always liked the idea of them but could never get over the pain they gave me between the toes. When I first started wearing them in Bali I did get that pain and one day it was so bad that it cut the skin. Something must have happened that day and the cut must have healed stronger and all of a sudden I could wear them without any issues. Anyway, I digress. We sped off on the mopeds along the coast road and found a shaded spot to park the bikes not far from the western shop we visited from time to time. (If you don’t park the bike in a shaded spot the seat gets incredibly hot and cooks your ass like a rump steak.) This time we planned on doing the walk in reverse which meant that the first section was a gradual incline and got our legs and muscles into gear.
We set off at a casual pace and walked a few kilometres along a concrete path amongst various rice fields and banana tree plantations. The path followed an old dried out river bed that was full of large boulders and the occasional cow, assumedly left there by farmers taking advantage of the extra space now the rains had stopped. A number of local houses dotted the way and we were welcomed with grins and waves by most people as we walked by. The houses we passed were often combined with shops and sold a variety of things from snacks and hot food to plastic water bottles containing bright yellow petrol. As we passed a concrete bridge that scaled the dried-out river bed the pathway evolved from flat concrete to a more rugged country-style pathway with tufts of grass in the middle and flat areas on each side after years of mopeds and people travelling up and down. The first kilometre was just 17 meters of incline but by the time we were at kilometre four, it shot up to 118 meters and got even steeper at 148 meters on kilometre five. The rugged pathway meandered up the mountainside like a snake making its journey upward. We stopped a couple of times in tree shade to drink water and to sit and crunch into refreshing watermelon chunks. Eventually, around the sixth kilometre, we started seeing small huts and shelters made of bamboo and corrugated iron roofs. Some must have been for farmers to relax in while others contained livestock like cows, pigs and goats. The huts became more common along the path and eventually, we made our way to the start of ‘small village’. Out of respect, we all stopped to out our face masks on and stopped under a huge ancient-looking tree near a temple. Vines hung from the tree and I remember thinking it felt like we were in a different country. Even the bird song was different here.
Magda and Katrin sat on a small stone wall while Niklas and I ventured up into the village to try and find water and drinks. We were less than halfway into our hike and already all our water was gone. The path continued upwards until it came to a small pen square. Looking out onto the horizon you could see the sea and the distance we’d travelled clearly. A lady up some steep stairs was looking down at us so we waved and asked if there was a shop nearby. She beckoned us up the stairs and showed us into a shed alongside her home. Inside was a small shop containing hanging coffee sachets, warm fizzy drinks, snacks and a pile of freshly cooked battered bananas. I’m not sure how many customers they were expecting to receive but it was a huge mound of food. A young boy filled up our water bottles for free and we purchased a Sprite and some of the battered banana snacks. I tried to give them a small amount of extra money but she politely refused the gesture. Even after some encouragement, she continued to refuse so I stopped offering, bowed with my hands in prayer and thanked them in Indonesian before walking back to Magda and Katrin. Magda and I shared the Sprite and had a banana cake each before continuing up the path.
Around the corner, we came across a small local temple. A small brook ran into a pond beside the temple and just as I looked I noticed a snake slithering across the surface and up a vertical rock on the other side. It made me realise that there were all sorts of animals here and I should probably be mindful of where I was treading. The path began to flatten out and the tough slog turned into more of a brisk walk as we passed farmers and locals toiling in the intense heat. By this point, my vest was saturated and I took it off and tied it to the back of my pack to dry a little. Eventually, we came across a stunning viewpoint of the village and we stopped to drain water while Katrin and Niklas fished out a teddy bear from their bag and took photos of it looking over the view. They were on temporarily sabbaticals from work and Katrin had struck up a deal with her hotel’s HR department that she will photograph the 60th-anniversary hotel teddy bear travelling around South East Asia from their Instagram account.
A little further along the path we came to another small residential area containing a few houses and some barking dogs. These people must have sacrificed the nearby community for a better view and wowzers was it nice. They lived on the ridge of the valley so benefited from both the view over the jungle and Small Village on one side and the Amed Coast Line and Mount Agung volcano on the other. In the distance, we could see the path we were following and could clearly see the path was steepening again. It was just one last slog before we made it to the 700-meter mark and more importantly our well-deserved lunch stop. We passed a few farmers and people carrying huge amounts of vegetation on their backs as we climbed the last section. They seemed rather surprised to see some white people this far up but one lady was very helpful and tried to offer us directions back to Amed. It did prove difficult however as we didn’t want to go the short route but wanted to go the long way in order to pass the viewpoint and stop for lunch. After a tiring four-hour climb, we finally made it to the highest point. The viewpoint was absolutely stunning and we sat on logs and stones to eat our tuna sandwiches and drink the last of our water. While eating I noticed my ankle was a little itchy and looking down I realised one foot was on top of an ants nest. I brushed them off with second nature as this is a common occurrence in Bali. Every day at some point you will feel a slight itch and upon closer inspection, you will often see a tiny, lone ant doing it’s best to traverse the hair on my arms like some sort of jungle expedition.
Feeling a little more refreshed but slightly hydrated we packed our bags and started defending down the ridge of the valley. I was rather proud of myself for coming all this way in flip flops and had almost no pain. Magda was regretting wearing her shoes and developed a large blister on her small toe — her feet were just not used to being so confined. Going down with flip flops is a little trickier, however, and the surface of the sandal seemed really hot from all the friction of walking. The climb down took longer than expected as the majority of it was steep, slippery and full of rocks and trenches. This was the only point I started feeling a little sore in the feet as the bar between my toe was digging into the skin with all my body weight being held behind it. Even then, I bet my feet would have been a lot sorer in shoes! After one hour of difficult terrain, we eventually made it to another small community. As with all the other lived-in areas we passed, it’s the dogs you can hear first, then you will see a few bamboo huts, agriculture then eventually the main living area and a shop and temple or two. We passed the same shop that Niklas and I had been to in one of our mountain run adventures a few weeks earlier. The lady didn’t have any change but kindly gave me a Sprite for 4,000 Rupiahs instead of 10,000. We purchased a couple of cold ice teas and I gave the man some extra money to give to the lady. After trying our best to explain I don’t think he really understood what the extra money is for but the good deed was done and I hope the money would make it back to her. We’d translated on our phone from English to Indonesian but a lot of the older generation (and remote villages it seems) speak only Balinese. Karma restored, we continued down the path and eventually came to the top of the concrete path and the area we had turned around on the first attempt. It was a good thing we did turn around because this was only a fifth or sixth of the whole route! We were in good spirits walking down the last path as, even though we’d enjoyed the walk, we knew we were on the home stretch.
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Near the bottom of the valley, we walked passed a house with lots of children sitting outside. One of them rushed down with a tray full of beads and bangles they’d made in an effort to raise money for their school. We didn’t take any but gave them a small donation of 2,000 Rupiahs (about 10p) and the small girl returned to her mum skipping with satisfaction. We eventually made it to the road and walked for another kilometre until we reached the bikes. There was a small shop along the way and Magda and I, rather hydrated, drank a large bottle of cold water each with a huge amount of satisfaction in the process. All in all, it had taken us 6.5 hours to travel 15.13km up to an elevation of 733m. We returned to the bikes and raced to the Lipah Beach hotel to jump in the cold swimming pool that had been in our minds for hours now. It was just as good if not better than I had imagined. We ordered a beer to the pool and only came out to eat a dish of Nasi Goreng before drying off and heading home for a chilled afternoon and a very early night!
